Steve Cohen’s Hard Rock NYC Casino Development Secures State’s Blessing
Posted on: May 28, 2025, 07:47h.
Last updated on: May 29, 2025, 07:30h.
- New York lawmakers have passed legislation to allow a casino in Queens
- The bill allows state and city-controlled parkland to be used for a commercial development
- NY Mets owner Steve Cohen is partnered with Hard Rock on the casino project
Billionaire Steve Cohen is among eight bidders for three downstate New York casino licenses. The founder of hedge fund Point72 Asset Management and the owner of the New York Mets MLB franchise secured critical approval from the state General Assembly this week that clears the way for his $8 billion casino resort project he’s pitching with Hard Rock International.
On Tuesday, the New York Senate voted 54-5 on legislation that rezones roughly 50 acres of paved parking lots surrounding Cohen’s Citi Field Ballpark.
Though the acreage is primarily used as Mets parking, the city-owned property is considered “public parkland” that’s leased to the MLB team. Senate Bill 7121, authored by Sen. John Liu (D-Queens), authorizes “the discontinuance of certain parkland in Flushing Meadows Corona Park in the Borough of Queens.”
With the bill’s companion legislation — Assembly Bill 6781A, passing the state Assembly earlier this month with a 138-7 vote — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) is the only remaining hurdle in the land being cleared for commercial development.
Casino Project Nears Bid
Cohen and Hard Rock have pitched an $8 billion development called Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Metropolitan Park. The project includes a casino and resort hotel with typical amenities such as numerous restaurants and bars, a spa and fitness complex, an indoor pool, a live music venue, and convention space.
Atypical components, designed to improve the bid’s odds of being awarded one of the three slots, live-dealer table games, and sports betting concessions, include a 20-acre public greenspace, affordable housing units, community athletic fields, a playground, bike baths, and a tailgate area for Mets games. Cohen has also pledged to include solar paneling on all parking structures.
After years of community engagement, thousands of conversations, and the leadership of our local elected officials, we are one step closer to transforming these asphalt lots into something our neighbors can truly be proud of,” Cohen said following the Assembly’s passing of the parkland bill.
Should Hochul sign or allow the bill to become law, and with the casino bid previously securing a Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) signoff from the NYC Department of Planning, as well as a favorable City Environmental Quality Review finding, Cohen and Hard Rock would be formally qualified to bid.
Each qualified bid would then be assigned a local Community Advisory Committee (CAC). The six-person CAC consists of Hochul, NYC Mayor Eric Adams, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, NYC Councilor Francisco Moya, Sen. Jessica Ramos (D-Queens), and Assemblymember Larinda Hooks(D-Corona).
Ramos Opposition
Only simple majority support is needed from the CAC to allow the New York Gaming Facility Location Board to award the bid a license. The CAC for the Cohen-Hard Rock proposal will surely have at least one “no” vote.
Ramos has been steadfast in opposing the resort casino. She opined that the state shouldn’t help a business tycoon worth more than $21 billion build a Las Vegas-like casino in the community.
After decades of public neglect, it feels like the first serious proposal on the table is a casino. That is not the kind of development that my community deserves,” Ramos declared. “Casinos may bring lights, but they also bring shadows. I cast my vote today … in defense of economic development that is dignified, sustainable, and rooted in the needs of working people — not in the wings of a billionaire.”
Ramos continued that she believes the vote is “not about a building or parcel of parkland” but “about power.”
“It’s about whether communities like mine are treated as partners or as pawns,” Ramos declared.
Last Comments ( 3 )
All three casinos should be in Manhattan, not Queens. No one goes to Queens. Th CitiField casino is right next to Flushing, so you know all the Asians will be in there gambling.
Would be very interesting, as well as telling to see how much Cohens group spent to secure the blessings. Was it 100M? 200M? 50M with contract promises?
Official lobbying records show less than $2 million.